Seven wonders of Grand Forks
Friday, July 13, 2007 at 03:21PM I am spending a long weekend attending my stepson Louie's destination wedding here in Grand Forks, North Dakota. I was a little uncertain about what to do with myself while the ladies in the wedding party got their nails done, decorated tables and other girlie stuff.
Luckily this morning's Grand Forks Herald's "Ask Marilyn" advice column had a list of the Seven Wonders of Grand Forks. Not to be outdone by the recent contest selecting the world's seven wonders, Marilym happily supplied a list. I spent the afternoon tracking down these midwestern marvels.
They are:
1. Themis, the Goddess of Justice who stands atop the Grand Forks County Courthouse.
2. The smiling water tower on South Washington Street - on one side he is winking.
3. The world's largest bra in front of Artsplace - the LWW here provides scale - of height, of course.
4. The Grand Army of the Republic Statue near St. Mary's Catholic Church. A very young face on this soldier.
5. The Ralph Engelstad Arena - home of the fighting Sioux.
6. The (sewage) lift stations named after newspaper columnists - Dave Berry is #16 - I am not making this up.
7. The Kegs Drive In where I had the sloppy joe special - be sure to bring a car since there is no indoor or outdoor seating.
I need to be thinking about the Seven Wonders of the Mankato Area.
Or the Seven Wonders of the Mankato Area Public Schools; media and technology department...
I'd be prepared should Karl visit!
Reader Comments (8)
I love it! Great pictures! Ok, I'm going to work on the seven wonders of Clovis! And others can work on the seven wonders of wherever they live. We could have the seven wonders at a school, in a district or in a city or ???. And, then we can all link our "seven wonders" together.
P.S. Enjoyed listening to your NECC presentation podcast.
Doug,
I read about the new Seven Wonders of the Modern World and was trying to think of some way to work it in to my classroom. It was one of those cases of thinking to hard. A great assignment would be for my students to come up with "wonders" of Sarasota and then defend their choices. Maybe, a school vote on which to adopt. If it were a snake, it would have bit me.
Cheers!
Thanks, Zac. Hope others see your great idea too.
One research activity a teacher here does is to combine MN studies and presidents. They are given a president and then need to arrange a tour of MN highlighting the 3 things they think would be of most interest to their president. Kind of cool.
All the best,
Doug
You have outdone yourself this time! I love your seven wonders. Thanks for the laughs this morning. This is a great back to school idea. I will be looking at our little town differently now. I did find a pear tree recently that I think could be on the list. If I knew how, I would put a picture of it here for you to see.
Doug,
There are really 10 great sites. You missed the doors to the dike along the Red River, the candy store (shame on you), and the bakery!
Annette
Hi Annette,
How could I possibly have missed these treasures? My bad.
I guess I will need to go back for another visit.
Doug
Grand Forks, North Dakota - Smiley Face Water Tower
My grand father designed the paint scheme, and originally painted this smiley face water tower. On one side of the tower the smiley face is winking. When my grandfather, Oscar Osmundson, went to the city to get paid for his work they were hesitant about paying him. A few people on the city council thought that it wasn't finished yet -- that he only painted half of one of the eyes on that side of the tower.
My grandfather laughed and told them the tower was winking, and they decided to vote on keeping it. The wink won, and that's how it sits today. Thousands of people drive by the water tower every year, and they all have my grandfather to thank for the smile that the wink puts on their face. [Chad Osmundson, 01/01/2006]
Oh! This is great! Thank you for countering many
confusion I had seen on this as of late.